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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · tube · season · land · court · plane · degree · wake

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. land — a country
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. land — to come down
  8. court — for sport
  9. wake — a trail
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. court — of law
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. tube — the underground
  16. degree — from a university
  17. season — of the year
  18. degree — temperature
  19. court — of a king
  20. tube — a container
  21. land — ground
  22. degree — an amount
  23. plane — a tool
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com